Sheet



R, A. TRIBBLE.

VENDING APPARATUS.

APPLlcAHoN mmm/v1.5, 1919.

2 SHLETS SHEET 1.

nuaufol H. A. TRIBBLE.

VENUING APPARATUS.

KIPUCAHON FILED MAR. f1. 1919- LE@ lzltfutodl Muy 27, 1919.

2 SHEETSV -SHEET 2A Wig/Q www @Ma SH01 new RQBERT A. TREBBLE, 05E* LLING FR/K, MESSISSIIPPE.

Leonesa,

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 5, i919. Serial tc. Zt'ljd.

To all whom t may concern Be it lrnoWn that l, Renner A. Turenne, a citizen of the United States, residin at Rolling Forlr, in the county of Shar ey and State of Mississippi, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Vending Apparatus, oi which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to a vending apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus ot the self-serving variety wherein a customer is permitted to help himself from a displayed stock ci goods. llt is desirable in apparatus of this nature Ato have the various structures embodying the same disposed in such manner as to display to each and every customer substantially the entire stock of goods; to keep the body of purchasers moving substantially continuously in the same direction in order to avoid confusion and congestion; to utilize all available space. to the best advantage subject to the accomplishment ofthe foregoing objects and nally to cause each purchaser to pass a common point at which the goods selected may he checked up and collected for,

Further objects and advantages lot the invention vvill be set forth in the detailed description-Which now ollovvs ln the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a diagrammatic sectional vievv of a store-room having vending apparatus disposed therein in a novel manner and in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a like view of a moditled ilorm` oi the invention;

Fig. 3 is a like vievv of a further modidcation of the invention; and

lig. l is a lilre vievv of still another modilication ot the invention.

Referring particularly to Fig. l, 5 designates the outer Walls ot' a storercom which may he what l have termed a groceteria, z'. e. a grocery store in which groceries ot all kinds are so displayed that customers may help themselves to the same. vlt is manifest that stores ot this nature possess manyy advantages among `which may be mentioned the marked decrease in expense arising trom the fact that it is not necessary to employ clerlrs to Wait upon customers9 that the customer has an opportunity to inspect tl e entire stoclr and will consequently malte many purchases that he or she would not otherwise matze and that the customer is not forced to select goods hastily under pressure ot the knowledge that other persons are Waiting for the attention ci' a clerk. ln carrying out the invention ll provide an entrance 6 Which may, it desired, be located Within a vestibule or lobby 7. 'lhe entrance 6 is preferably controlled by a turnstile or ystorm door 8 of such construction as to permit the passage ol customers inone direction only into the interior ot the store. 'lhe store is divided longitudinallylor a ortion of its depth by a partition 9 vvhic may extend to theI ceiling but is preferably in the form ot a picket tence to permit customers to have a clear view '.tromone side ot the store to the other. A display stand l0 may, it' desired, be located in the length oli this partition. Lying transversely across the :inner end ot the partition 9 is a display shelf 1l that is divided longitudinally by a Wall l2 A customer passing into the store through the entrance 6 and 1n the direction indicated by the arrow A nds goods displayed upon shelvesl, upon the display stand l0 and upon shelves or stands ld, though these latter may be omitted if desired. 'llhe shell ll is preferably of arcuate form and lies in spaced relation to a similarly shaped shelf 15 tormed along the front v/all ot a storeroom 16 from which the several shelves and stands may be replenished at suitable intervals. 'l` he arcuate formation of the Shell ll and the similar' formation ot the shell-A15 and their relation to each other constitute an' arcuate passageway i7 curved in such man`u ner as to direct the travel ot the customers easily and without confusion thereinto and to guide this travel to the opposite side or the store Where7 1following the direction of the arrovv B, the customer nds his Way to- Ward Athe exit i8 which is controlled by a turnstile or storm door similar to that de? scribed with respect to the entrance but arranged to prevent the passage of persons in= vvardly and to permit the passage ci persons outwardly.

ln their travelftovvard the enit the customers are directed toward a cashierls cage i9 Where the cost ot the goods that have been selected may be computed and the charge for the same paid The storercom is provided with doors 20 leading from the rear ot the building and vvith doors 2l through which communication may he had between the storeroom and Gill lil@

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the interior of .the store proper, Under normal conditions the doors 20 serve to per mit goods to be unloaded from teams into the storeroom 16 and the doors 21 permit these goods to vbe conveyed from the storeroomto replenish the shelves and stands in the store. Ordinarily customers will not be permitted to pass through these doors but in case of fire these doors provide emergency exits. Additional emergency exits may be provided by doors 22 which will normally be kept closed but not locked so that in case of fire passage may be had to the lobby other than through the turnstiles.

The structure illustrated in Fig. 2 is similar to that illustrated in Fig. 1 and in so far as the two forms of the invention are identical the same reference characters have been applied. In this form, however, the longitudinal partition 9il instead of lying centrally of the store, extends from the front of the store to one end of the shelf 11 and additional arcuate'shelves 11a andl 11b vare employed. `A division wall or fence 9b extends from the vcashiers cage 19 to the shelf 11b and -preferably comprises within its length a circular display stand 10. yI also preferably employ a division wall or fence 9c which extends from one end of the shelf 11 to the side wall of the store so that the travel of the vcustomers will be in the direction of the arrows C, D, E and F.' l

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 3 an entrance is provided at 23 within a' lobby 24 and the store vroom is par` tially longitudinally divided by an oval` shelf 25 withinf'which a space 26 is provided for the reception of employees. This structure is advantageous Where it is desired to provide a central wrapping station to which customers may bring their purchases and have theml checked and wrapped, where necessary, before passing the cashiersstation indicatedat 27. The exit in this case isv at, 28v intoea lobby 29 and the respective exits and entrances 30 and 31 to the lobbies 28 and 29.may be controlled by storm doors or turnstiles 32 and 33.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings I have illustrated a construction wherein a longitudinal partition 9 is disposed within the store and carries display shelves upon its opposite sides, indicated at. 34, and in addition carries a shelf 35 upon which customers may place' their baskets and move them along as the travel down the one side of thestore an up' the other. These shelves are curved around the innei`l end of the partition to conform to the general curvature of the passageway 17* formed between said shelves and the shelves 15L which correspond 'to the shelves 15 in Fig. 1, this arrangement serving the purpose of aiding in keeping the movement of purchasers always in onedirection and changing the direction of move'- ment at the rearof the store from rearward A37 and 38 respectively and are preferably controlled by turnstiles 38 and 39 serving the' function hereinbefore set forth. Itis to be noted that the' structure illustrated in Fig.. 4 is particularly adapted to buildings that are long and narrow and also lends itself admirably to the utilization of two stores next-door to each other,l in which case it is onlynecessary. to cut away a part of the division wall between thetwo buildings to form the passageway 17a and to build the storeroom across the back of the two buildings. The cashiers cage 19a may in this case be located as shown or may lie -entirely within the exit side of the store.

From-the foregoing description it will be seen`that the described arrangement provides vending apparatus by whichcustomers may servev themselves, expensive clerk hire may be dispensed with, ample opportunity may be given the customer to make his or her selections', all of the goods within the store will be brought within the lrange of vision of each and every'customer during his or her Ipassage therethrough, the customers will be encouraged to make larger purchases upon' each visit, overhead expenses in many respects will be diminished, possibilities of `mistakes will be eliminated and the many losses incident to the conduct of y primary object being to provide a structure of the character indicated in which ythe several objects are achieved .in the most simple, economical and advantageous manner. It is therefore to be understood that `the invention is not limited to the precise construction set forth but that it includes within its purview whatever changes fairly come within the scope orthe'spirit of the appended claims. i

Having described my invention, what I claim is: f

1. A vending structure of the character described comprising a storeroom having an entrance and' an exit. and a longitudinally extending partition therein between the entrance and the exit and extending .fora maJor part of the depth of said storeroom and means located at the inner end of thev partition and transversely with res ct thereto constituting a laterally exten ing arcuate passageway, the concaved side of lOl which lies toward the partition andi non- 13( reversible entrance and exit lstructures upon opposite .sides of the partition requiring traiic tol enterupon one side of the partition and leave upon the other side thereof, the curvature of the lateral passageway being in the general direction of travel of the traflic.

2. A vending structure of the character described having an entrance and an eXit and a longitudinally extending partition between the entrance and the exit, of means at the entrance and exit for requiring traic to enter at one side of the partition and leave at the other side thereof, the rear Wall of the storeroom being of arcuate formation with its eoncaved side toward the partition and an arcuate shelf disposed transversely across the end of the partition with its convex side disposed toward said arcuate Wall, to thereby constitute a laterally extending arcuate. passageway disposed in the general direction of travel from the entrance to the exit.

In testimony whereof l aiX my signature.

Bonera* A. TRIBBLE. 

